Sad Eyes, PI
by Mines of Salmon
Summary: Inspired by mysterious events in his hometown, a down-on-his-luck Shinji devotes himself to finding the things that go bump in the night, and how to bump back. Ikari Investigations is open for business! Supernatural Detective AU. Slight Crossover. Co-authored by Stranger 1, edited and re-formatted by Mines of Salmon.


Sad Eyes, PI

Chapter 1

 _I stare at the lawn, it's Wednesday morning_

 _It needs a cut, but I'll leave it growin'_

 _All different sizes and shades of green_

 _Slashin' it down just seems kind of mean_

The future tasted like more phlegm in his throat, rolling off the tongue like something forgotten in the middle of an argument. Shinji Ikari, now a young man with a younger face glazed with old sweat and new responsibilities came to. A lean figure kept by a paycheck to paycheck diet kept him from becoming too slovenly; though running around Tokyo definitely helped his figure. He lived in a single room of tatami mats, his bed little more than a mattress and thin sheets on the floor, a stove and wok on the far side with a connected bathroom that thankfully wasn't open to others, though it was still tiny, even with Shinji's small frame.

Shinji shaved in the mirror, razing away the shadow and errant hairs to try and look less like the TV crackpots his mother desperately assured his relatives that he wasn't. A paper sign hung from his door in the hallway, "Ikari Investigations", though when he did have meetings with clients, they always happened in coffee shops or diners, somewhere else while his own place was under renovation, you see. He cleaned up nicely, well enough to blend into the crowd of respectable young men and women on their way to respectable jobs, though he was fully aware that another dry month like this would easily leave him without a pot to piss in. Even now, the posters of missing dogs on the subway looked mighty tempting for only a few yen more.

One lost corgi for a week's worth of groceries? He'd take that deal in a heartbeat. It wasn't as if he could rely on the other contacts in his phone for leads. Daisuke's support had dried up considerably when he learned just what kind of cases Shinji was investigating, and dropping out of the Academy certainly didn't help his cause. If he was going to survive in this gaping maw of glitz and steel, he was going to have to claw his way out with his own two hands.

 _I can't wait around for the universe to drop another fairy tale in my lap._

He stepped outside to stretch his legs and take in the foggy morning, the sky swallowing up some of the skyline. Pulling the pin on months' worth of bottled sales pitches, Shinji threw all the enthusiasm he could muster into the call.

"Hello! My name is Shinji Ikari, I saw your missing dog notice and I am a Super- concerned citizen!" He quickly corrected himself, no need to spook them. "I've tracked down several lost pets in the past and I'd like to help."

"Huh? What's that you say?" A nasal voice wormed its way out of an ancient, sandpaper throat. A muffled "Oh Mom!" was heard before a short scuffle ensued and a younger, more feminine voice greeted him.

"Hello? Is this about our dog? Thank you so much, I'd love to have someone lend a hand around here to find Stein. My mother's been inconsolable without him, and I miss the little guy too."

Shinji straightened up at that, the promise of returning a dog to its loving owner was all the more warm when said owner sounded so lovely over the phone. Shallow, perhaps, but Shinji kept his months (alright, years) without any physical contact with the fairer sex outside of this chipper business call.

"I'd love to help! As I was telling your mother I've helped find lost pets before, most recently a cat."

 _Sort of._

"In fact, you could call me a-"

 _Pet Detective?_

"Concerned citizen. If you could tell me any and all important details, they would be crucial in helping to find Stein!"

* * *

Knight in shining armor or not, it was worth getting out of the house for. The poster had shown him the basics, and Chihiro, as he learned her name, filled in the details.

 _Small, about a year old with beige and white fur, blue collar with his name on it. Gone missing a few days ago, she's been up and down his favorite spots and hasn't found anything. Suggested starting around her neighborhood near the cherry blossom park. Responds well to peanut butter._

Shinji reviewed the notes, scrolling through his phone and making changes where necessary. A pad and pencil might have looked more official to others, but such things didn't have the largest repository of knowledge ever assembled at their fingertips. A phone was a lifeline, a library, a source of leads and his foremost tether to the wider world. Of course he still relied on his wits and deductive skill, but for someone living with his means, hand to mouth, he could be sleeping at a bus stop and still pay his phone bill on time. It was simply that vital to life in Tokyo, and past brushes with wayward technology hadn't shaken him too bad.

Science fiction of the 20th century would have placed the Tokyo of the current year as an electric cyberpunk dreamscape of transhuman possibilities, though reality arrived in much slower, more mundane steps. Sparkling J-pop shared the airwaves with its western equivalents, superheroes were still juggernaut tentpole events in the film industry, and a handful of cars were becoming driverless. Still, as the teeming mass of glittering, animated billboards crept up on him the further he ventured into the city, it was hard to dismiss the prophetic nature of those writings.

With the rain coming sooner rather than later, Shinji had a choice between a a café, an anime and manga hobby shop, and a narrow alleyway to duck into, opting for the former. The inside was furnished with wood and soft lighting, packed full of patrons either laughing together or pecking away at their laptops. A chalkboard menu promised all sorts of vaguely foreign sounding drinks with a sizing system that refused to stoop to the pedestrian model of "small, medium, and large."

"Can I help you?" The tall barista in a black v-neck asked, a patterned shemagh tied around his neck.

"Good day, sir!" Shinji enthused, warmer than the brew they poured. He took his mother's words about honey and flies more seriously than most, his life depended on it. "I'd like to know if you happened to see a Corgi running through these parts? Cute little guy, blue collar. Likely hungry and alone."

"Can't say I have. Kana, you know anything about a lost dog?" The short brunette beside him shook her head, wiping her hands on a green apron.

"Nah, is he yours?"

"Nope, I'm helping out a friend. The family's pretty torn up about the loss. His name's Stein, barely a year old." Shinji turned to look at the park. "Place like this must get good business, what kind of regulars do you get?"

"Oh, we get lots. Businessmen, students; there's a college annex nearby so we're always packed in the mornings and during the lunch rush." The girl tapped her fingers on the counter.

"Yeah, it'd be easier to name who _doesn't_ come in." They shared a chuckle, which passed Shinji by.

"You mean Billy?" She chimed in. "He was only here the one time. All 'And I'm NEVER coming in here again'!"

Why they remembered so vividly a man who had been there only once was beyond him, but the day was too short to listen to this.

"Well, can I give you my number, in case you see Stein walking around?"

"Yeah, sure thing dude. Name's Jin."

The guy handed Shinji his phone, comparatively stuffed with messages, alerts, and contacts.

"Alright, thanks for your help, and have a nice day!"

And he looked back to the gray clouds a bit more tired than when he walked in.

* * *

Checking the college was still on his list, but a niggling feeling took Shinji on a slight detour. With the bins for refuse and recycling out on the street, these alleys were much less cluttered than would be expected, even if the odd box or dumpster obstructed Shinji's view. Right in between the hobby shop and a house, nothing jumped out at him as suspicious, but a closer look never hurt. It was nice to fine some touch of order and cleanliness in the sprawl of the great city, even here. Shinji stepped deeper into the alley, hazarding a "Stein?" as he called out quickly. A long shot sure but an easy one to make in a quick little exploration.

One of the boxes shuffled in response, the poor lighting of the place masking what was behind it. Some cans could be heard clattering to the ground, and then silence. Dancing between the relief of a job well done and the worry of a rather large rat, Shinji came forward with slow caution, his voice calm and pleasant.

"Hey Stein, here Stein!"

Shinji came closer but held his arms back to avoid any unnecessary bites from whatever it could be. A hiss was heard, the claws came out, and Shinji recoiled at the sight of... a gray cat, mangy and wet. Growling at him, the thing scampered back into the alleyway's darkness. Relief and worry once more swapped position but in all it was no small loss. Shinji wished the cat better luck than the dog before turning towards the college with a brisk pace, humming a small tune to himself along the way.

* * *

Like pollen seeds in the spring breeze, Tokyo University spread itself far and wide across the city, this particular branch a mere two office buildings on a corner at the other end of the park. Class was in session, and on the ground floor next to the library a security guard sat at the reception desk.

"Hello, do you have your student ID?"

"Why yes I do". Shinji reached for his wallet and flashed his ID from the Academy, an ID which was still a bit off it's expiration date. "I'm from the Academy but I'm here on a cross campus research project with one of the students".

"Oh yeah? What are you working on?"

"We're working on a research project involving new possible chemical compounds that might throw off or eventually dull a police dog's nose. With all these new industrial and chemical compounds wafting about in cities or industrial areas it's just become harder and harder for some dogs to find perps or contraband. Half the time it's just an innocently placed aroma by happenstance which throws the dog off, but other times it's crooks using these chemicals to do it. The student is working the science end, I'm running the legwork and digging into recent case files where our brave dogs have been foiled. We're both trying to isolate the factors in the environment which might have affected the dog by revisiting the areas of certain searches and trying to pick apart different possible sources. We haven't gotten there yet but for the next stage we hope to have different dogs walk different paths to further isolate which compounds stump them"

Shinji didn't flinch but rolled into his part wholesale, only picking up speed with each sentence and soon seeming more like professor than student for how much he was ready to talk. Stemming the guard's thoughts with his cavalcade of nonsense, he got his card back from her scanner.

"Sounds… interesting. Head on through."

The second floor held the bursar and registrar's office, the third career development and alumni relations, and the rest various classrooms and labs of sorts. Additionally, a lower basement level held the student lounge. His plan had been to waltz into the cafeteria and just shout out if anyone had seen a Corgi. Given the small touch of duplicity it took getting in however, a subtler route was carved in stone before him. Shinji made for the student lounge, figuring those in the library would be less receptive to talking. As Shinji walked he kept his eyes peeled, rather curious to see what normal university life was like.

Painted in stark white, the angular design of the lounge suggested an art gallery rather than a place for stressed out undergrads to hang out. Still the tables were occupied by a few people. Two girls enjoyed coffees emblazoned with the logo of the shop Shinji visited, across from them sat a mixed gaggle of freshmen whispering to each other. Way on the other side of the room, a young man sat plugged into a glowing laptop, the cursing under his breath interrupted only by the frantic clicking of a mouse. If Shinji had meant to ask the girls about anything other than work he might have never crossed the room, but some scared dog needed him, so cross he did-arriving only a little sweaty at their table.

"Excuse me" Shinji's smile was a bit smaller, his tone almost cracking at one moment before he coughed into his hand "I see you like Marbucks. You wouldn't happen to spend a lot of time in the park on your way there would you? I'm trying to find a friend's Corgi who was lost thereabouts".

Girls One and Two looked at each other with eyes better suited to people who'd just sat next to a crying child during a movie. Their demeanor changed, however, upon hearing about the dog.

"Umm, sometimes." One of them answered flippantly. "I haven't really seen any strays."

"Yeah, sorry." The frost wall choked with finality, and they soon returned to the phones in their laps.

 _Glad to see some things haven't changed._

Shinji sighed internally despite his slightly thicker skin and better sense of humor. Rolling his shoulders and getting ready to get yelled at again Shinji walked over to the young man at the laptop.

"Hello friend! Trouble with something?"

The guy's brow remained furrowed in concentration, the thick headphones around his ears looking to be of the noise canceling variety. While sweat dripped down an unfortunately pimply face, he became more and more aware of the shadow blocking the fluorescent light's glare.

"What do you want?"

"Oh I just noticed you were having difficulty with something, I was curious if you needed any help."

"I'm playing a game." He mumbled, something else tumbling out but nothing Shinji could really understand. Now that the screen had shifted, it was clear he was playing some kind of MMO, his armored bikini clad character unleashing fireblasts for progressively bigger numbers on wandering monsters. But what caught Shinji's attention more than any jiggling breasts was the shock of blue hair and crimson red eyes on the avatar's head.

 _Rei._

Shinji flinched, a hairline fracture cutting through his earnest zeal. Sure exotic hair colors like blue were a thing in games, and even slowly in real life. The more time went on the more it seemed women and men began coloring their hair in stripes in more, taking on bolder and less natural hair colors with pride. Shinji supposed there were all kinds of progress to be sought beyond technology in society, sometimes bolder self expression and choice was progress too. All that being said though, Shinji couldn't help but believe in coincidence, or at least he wanted to, after all, he was desperate.

"Oh is this one of those newer ones which uses a dynamic combat system that's more twitch based? That's _awesome_ , the ones I used to play were fun but were a bit too number heavy and static if you know what I mean!" Shinji didn't have to dig too deep beyond himself or spew too much bullshit to actually be able to connect to what this student seemed to like. "That character design, is it a preset or something? She seems familiar, looks almost like Rei Ayanami".

"Yep, the grind is still hell. It's been hard getting other people I know to actually play. Most people just care about the character creator, which lets you get pretty... in depth with all the stuff you can do with proportions and outfits." Just when it seemed they could not find more to bond over, his face lit up with glee. "Ha, another fan of The New Gospel, I see? I spent _hours_ meticulously bringing Rei-chan to life, I'm a huge otaku and so's my buddy. Here he comes now!" The young man waved over Shinji's shoulder, another familiar face catching his eye.

"Shinji, is that you?" Kensuke nearly fell down the stairs.

Having sought one old friend Shinji could barely be upset or contain himself for finding another. Shinji rushed Kensuke like a man dying of thirst, taking his bespectacled friend into an enthusiastic hug. With the force of the embrace Kensuke could tell that however lanky Shinji still seemed, some new amount of meat and force lined all that skin and bone.

"Kensuke! Since when did you transfer to Tokyo University!? You look well!"

Kensuke, conversely, looked much more cleaned up than Shinji remembered, his sandy hair less of a mop though still retaining its curls and trading thick tortoiseshell glasses for sleeker frames. A bit of a schlub in high school, the guy before him could have easily snuck his way into a Uniqlo catalog.

"I've been great! Just great, I transferred here last year, didn't you hear?" Cutting back on his social life had also insulated Shinji from social media, not that he ever had many followers in that area. "Wait until I tell Touji... How about you? What've you been up to?"

"Bored out of my mind and a few days shy of starvation" Shinji exclaimed frankly but with the same smile and a chuckle. "Things are not well on the solo Shinji Ikari expedition" Seeing Kensuke in better spirits from where he once saw him was enough to feel good at the moment rather than jealous. "The Academy was great, a lot of work and learning with little free time and I did rather well for myself. Only problem is once I made it plain where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, things kind of closed up"

"Aw, that's terrible." Behind them, the guy on the seat coughed. "Oh, have you two met? Shinji, this is Nishi, one of my buddies from class." Nishi extended his fist for a quick bump.

"So you're Shinji, huh? We just ran into each other outta nowhere. You never told me he was a New Gospel fan, he even complimented me on my Rei!"

In that summer of tracking down any lead Shinji had turned to watching the actual show for any further clues. Shinji found none. What Shinji did find however was a rather charming series, a series of the seemingly typical explosions, robots and boobs which belied something very smart and moving. It was perhaps true what some said of the tortured genius types, for there was such talent there and yet the creator had taken things a sadder way in life than the message of his show. In a way Shinji carried forward with this obscure fandom in partial tribute to that man and perhaps in giving him fair due and happiness along the way with a broader audience.

"Yeah! You did a great job, especially with the eyes, such an intense hue of red! It's really nice to meet you Nishi" Shinji returned the fist bump heartily.

"Yeah, Rei's really something isn't she?" Two old friends shared a knowing look, Kensuke rocking on his heels while his hands entered his pockets. "She was my favorite too. Anyway Shinji, are you free? I was just going to head out with Nishi here and hang out for a while."

"What did you have in mind? I'm kind of free, I mean I kind of promised that I'd help this family find their lost Corgi. So I could hang out and then go back to 'work', the dog was lost somewhere around the park."

Persistence, one of the things Daisuke had touted, and on any case big or small Shinji didn't feel like giving up, especially when someone wanted help.

"What are you, a pet detective?" Nishi snorted, packing up his laptop.

"Hey, the guy made a promise, c'mon." Kensuke gave his friend the benefit of the doubt; though no matter how altruistic a child he'd been he would not have figured the boy would go so far as rescuing lost animals. "We won't be long. We're just gonna chill for a while and then we gotta get to class."

"I'm considering it" Shinji laughed at the suggestion, half joking, half very serious "After all there would be more plentiful cases and more lucrative cases compared to what my usual trade is". At saying what exactly he did investigate Shinji held back. "I'm good to hang out. Before we leave though you wouldn't happen to know someone who loiters about this part of town more than anyone else?"

"Loitering, you mean like a bum?" Nishi scratched his head, looking at Kensuke.

"Nah, he means like if you've seen anybody shady come and go."

"Well yeah, every once in a while, but dog theft is kind of a niche crime don'tcha think? It's not like it's a celebrity's dog or something, right?"

"Whatever, you said you wanted to pick up some cards, right?" "Fuck yeah, I just need Shining Quasar Dragon to round out my Fusion Monster deck."

"Isn't he illegal now?"

"Not yet, but then he'll be a collectible." As the conversation strayed and the nerds rambled, the trio found themselves walking back towards the anime and manga shop Shinji had passed previously.

"Just some normal people's dog, but I think I feel more compelled to help because they're normal you know? Sometimes it's the more run of the mill people who get trudged under the wheel harder"

Having since waited now and then for the stale donuts to get thrown out of the local pastry shop, Shinji was not one to be disparaging of those who slept on the streets these days, bums or otherwise. But Shinji doubted that Nishi meant much harm, he just seemed like a decent enough guy and really Shinji was just happy to be around friendly and known faces again. After such a barrage of textbooks, case files and private research Shinji likewise welcomed the break to his former leisure time pursuits of games and fandom.

"Quasar is getting banned? About fucking time!"

* * *

The store's modest facade gave way to an impressive collection of all things geek for those connoisseurs who consumed them, everything from games and DVDs to expensive looking models lining the shelves. At the front of it all was the location's singular employee, a balding middle-aged man of red hair and face.

"Hey Billy!" Nishi called out in quick English as he passed, earning a grunt and a nod from the proprietor, who could not have looked more out of place amid hermetically sealed figurines of cartoon high schoolers. Aside from the booster packs the boy planned to splurge on, he also had eyes for the untouchable azure heroine behind a glass display case.

"Are you ever going to sell this to me?" He asked awkwardly, tapping the glass.

"Nah I don't think so, I checked online and there's guys willin' to drop two big ones USD to get ahold of her, not that I have any fuckin' clue why. I'll let ya take the comics but Ray Namami's off limits."

"It's Rei Ayanami." Kensuke muttered.

"Yeah, what he said."

 _That's one mystery solved. Guess Billy takes his coffee seriously._

Shinji's eyes lingered more on some of the mecha model kits, he'd built and painted a few in childhood, as close as he found himself to creative expression that wasn't cello shaped.

"Hello Mr." Going by the man's demeanor Shinji felt almost more like a seer for how sure he was about knowing what the man's response would be "You wouldn't happened to have seen a Corgi lately have you?"

His face remained placid for a moment while he sized Shinji up.

"Son, I don't speak much Japanese. So either get it in English or pump your brakes a little." He looked behind him at the rows of figurines, taking another blue haired one in a school uniform off the shelf. "And no, I ain't got any Corgi's. I got this one though. Her name's uhh, Cirno. That close enough?"

Shinji had a slight grasp of the English language, enough to brokenly understand that the man couldn't understand him, and the man's posturing and expression helped make it certain. So the mysterious case file of "Billy" opened once more, for Shinji was endlessly fascinated as to how and why a man who couldn't speak Japanese was trying to run a fandom shop in the heartland of fandom culture.

"No thank you" Shinji barely managed in his thick accent, smiling and waving his hand at the figurine, now gesturing at the ground "Real dog. Bark! Bark!"

 _Is this what rock bottom feels like?_

Running this shop, Billy had seen some shit, up to and including people actually dressed like dogs doing a much more convincing performance than Shinji's. "Now that I think about it I seen a small dog down a ways by the playground. Dunno if I scared him off or he was just runnin' from something."

The once active and now cynically humbled creative and adventurous part of Shinji's brain might have thought up some fanciful reason for that, some unseen spirit hounding the dog or some other exotic sense a dog could have like one for Earthquakes. For now Shinji just saw hope.

"Thanks Billy!" Nodding at Kensuke Shinji immediately began walking out of the store "Find me at the playground, I gotta check this out!"

Once Shinji was out back into fresh air he broke into a dead sprint, meaning to get there as soon as possible but also meaning to slow down once the area was in sight lest he spook the dog. With school still in session the deserted playground had a decidedly eerie atmosphere to it, Shinji half expecting the swings to start moving on their own. A light pitter patter of rain began on the way there, but nothing truly bothersome. As part of a small Park, the playground stood across the street from a school and another set of alleyways, thick trees forming a wall behind him. From the sandbox, amplified by the moisture, Shinji could smell where the dog's home training had kicked in, still fresh by the look of it.

"What if's" and "Maybe's" whispered into Shinji's ear, and maybe just maybe his hairs began to raise with the pitter patter of rain. Shinji's heart began to thump faster, like an engine firing into and setting his bones alight as he sprung to quicker step and his senses flared. The rain coming earlier might have been a better bone with easier or muddier tracks, for now though this was good. Shinji followed the direction of the small imprints in the sand, calling out with each step

"Stein! Stein! Here boy!"

In the alley beside the school, Shinji felt deja vu kicking in as he approached in soft steps. Something was definitely moving just beyond his line of sight, as difficult as it was to make out. Sure enough, however he heard a frail bark, and a small figure emerged from the shadows. Stein, who looked as ecstatic as any dog Shinji had ever seen, rushed towards him on stubby legs. He matched the photo and description Chihiro provided, though his collar was missing and there was a streak of blood matted along his back. The dog cowered next to his legs, peering out with eyes wider than his head.

The two knee jerk reactions hit Shinji at once, from the left came a frank _Shit_ and from the right an excited _Yes!_ . Both collided in Shinji's head, leaving him stunned for a moment as he body took up the slack and he dropped to Steain's level. The sight of blood was a mixed worry of blessing and opportunity, but first Shinji needed to know more. Shinji carefully stroked under the dog's chin before picking it up, trying to get a closer look to see how fresh the blood was and if Stein was wounded. The dog seemed a little shaken but not wounded, so Shinji kept himself alert with a firm grasp on Stein, ready to run at a moment's notice if need be.

"There, there Stein, I got you" Shinji whispered into the dog's ears.

Petting the dog revealed that the blood was only superficial, and that Stein himself was uninjured. He nuzzled Shinji's chest, whining as if to say "hurry home!". The alleyway, however, was not done with them, as from the shadows came another bark and another Stein. This furry companion came with a limp and a pained growl with more desperation than threat in its timber, his wounds clearly more than skin deep. Looking down at the dead eyed creature in his arms, Shinji couldn't help but notice the smattering of blood around his lips, and the hairline fractures that began to split his face.

The next reaction Shinji felt was entirely uniform: _Fuck_ . Shinji took the animal in a tight headlock as his free hand dropped to his waist. Honed and practiced reflexes saw through the fear and Adrenalin, hand and fingers riding a forged and tactile path seared into his nerves. Like any good quick draw Shinji spun something past his waist, but this was hardly superficial flourish, Metal shifted and clicked as a blade of silver danced free between raindrops. Shinji Ikari had more than just Butterflies in his wallet, and this one nuzzled close to this Stein's neck, it's color less extravagant. "Stop. If you can talk better do it now, or your next words fall out your throat" Going by the seeming freakishness occurring with this Stein it seemed obvious that this might be some violent doppelganger, but baring no response Shinji still had one idea to find the real one if need be.

The creature couldn't talk, but it could hunt. Stein's face bulged and distorted until it pulled itself apart in a gory four leaf clover lined with teeth. Pulsating and salivating, it looked to be tasting the air around him with rank, bloody breath. This up close, Shinji felt like his knife might as well have been made of plastic, but it was the only card he had left to play. Shinji stabbed the base of the dog's head, his hands trembling under warm blood spilled. The thing recoiled, its faces blossoming horribly into some grisly pit of teeth and gore. Merely stunned, the curious beast tilted its head and pulled the knife out with a long, prehensile tongue.

While the creature reeled, Shinji lunged for the real Stein and began his running back tryouts. With a truckload of adrenaline, Shinji for a few hectic seconds seemed ready to go pro, man and his furry football and best friend tucked under an thoroughly destructive capabilities of fire was where Shinji's mind next turned, but as if it wasn't hard enough to find a reliable flame in a civilian area it was raining. Sprinting through the streets with a wounded dog in hand, it was clear that flight won over flight in all options here. This particular avenue took him back to the same park corner from which he started, the cafe and Billy's store visible. He heard a clinking sound and turned to see - _thwick_ \- his bloody knife embedded in the brick wall beside his head, more rumbling coming from the dark alleyway.

"RABID DOG BEHIND ME! EVERYONE OUT".

Shinji burst into the café, ignoring the bewildered looks of the people inside. "Kana take care Stein call cops!"

Shinji spoke in a broken rush for he lacked time, just about throwing the poor dog in her face. He leaped over the counter, darting eyes firing up as the snagged upon a bulky box on the wall. There was something to be said for the risks and tragedies of living in a disaster country: people were prepared. Given the constant risk of Earthquakes it was both common law and common sense for all establishments and most households to have an emergency kit. And among all the tools for human survival one still endured from the very beginning of things: fire. Except this fire burned and shone all the hotter, sanctuary and hope in an intense red glow. As Shinji opened the case he held hope for a flare gun but some average flares would be welcomed too.

"A rabid dog?" Jin out up his hands. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Kana pushed him to the door anyway and as the patrons stood up to see just what all the commotion was about he locked the door and peered through the windows. The customers talked excitedly, peering over each other to see what was going on, all the while Shinji held what could have been his last breaths. But nothing came, and aside from rain and the odd passerby the streets were more or less empty.

As Shinji pried open the case he found three emergency flares and a hand sized fire axe. Taking the brief calm to catch his breath Shinji shoved two of the flares in his pocket, arming his left hand with the axe and the right with an un-popped flare.

"I'll be right back" Shinji moved for the back door while everyone was huddled around the front "If you hear any pained screaming or I don't come back, call the cops".

Shinji stepped out the back door and into the rain, taking quick breaths as he carefully walked back to the alley. Shinji had to wonder if a flare would be enough, would it be enough on the naked flesh? Flares did burn to degrees of 2,9000 Fahrenheit, but maybe the effect would be better if he could get the flame inside an open wound-hence the axe. Or maybe, just in case, Shinji needed something more. As he crept carefully back to the alley he knelt beside a car, swinging until he felt that powerful aroma smack his nostrils. Coughing a bit, the newly minted hunter stood as something besides water began to pool under the car. He stood and popped the flare away from his face, the sudden noise and heat violent but soon calming for what it could hopefully offer him. Gripping flare and axe, the red glare illuminated what felt like his last stand.

 _Love you, Mom._

Tokyo's last action hero walked on back to the alley, the workers not needing any more push to call the police.

"Just stay here! You said yourself it's just a dog!" Kana called out after him. "You're not even animal control!"

Paying them no heed, his march ended at the dark maw in which horror lay, a muted skittering sliming on a wall unseen. The infernal croak crawled under Shinji's skin, amplified to sound like it was coming from everywhere at once. It was a stressful and dangerous thing, fighting on the knife's edge of credibility. News of some rapist or mugger would have brought the cops and people to Shinji's aid, but talk of some eldritch horror in Corgi form would have brought the cops running to take Shinji in. But it was why he had to take the risk himself and be here, if he waited for the cops they could get hurt or die, unprepared or unwilling to believe what laid in wait. Shinji lofted the flare higher for a better view of the alley as he quickly back pedaled to the street and the car.

"Heeeeere Steiny, hereeee fuck face". Shinji whistled past trembling lips as he boiling blood and instinct brought on a taste for violence.

Shinji heard a rattling hiss above him, but by then it was too late. "Stein" descended from a fire escape with lethal intent, his tongue wrapping around and choking him as they crashed into the ground. His horrid mouth drifted closer to Shinji's face, bringing with it the stench of death. Blackness crept into the corners of his eyes as he felt his arms beginning to go limp. Shinji had momentarily considered trying to talk to or sooth the thing. For as grotesque as it was perhaps it was another wayward sort that needed help, or some unique lifeform, few in number and scarce in rarity. All kind sentimentality and philosophy subsided to one thought _AIR_ . Shinji rallied all of his strength into an axe blow at the tongue while his other hand jammed the flare through its eye.

Blood began to spurt out as if popped from a balloon, flowing over them both as the creature shrieked and relented. Shinji found air again, but not strength, being able to do little more than crawl ineffectually as the beast disappeared into the rainy city. With sirens in the distance, the people of the coffee shop began to file out and were shocked to find Shinji so beaten. Even Billy, stodgy man that he was, came out to investigate the ruckus when he saw Shinji laid out and bleeding.

"Kid, what the hell happened here?"

Shooing the others away, Kana stepped forward with Stein who had one whiff of the blood and began to whimper once more.

"Fought one hell of a big and rabid dog" Shinji just lay out on his back, deflating himself along the ground as he wheezed out, completely depleted and welcoming the rain on his face. Barely moving his head Shinji turned his eyes and a weak smile towards the girl and the dog "Heeeeeey Stein, hey Steiny. Thanks for taking care of him. I gotta-gotta take him to the vet".

Shinji had to wonder how Stein had gotten off as lightly wounded he did given the creature's strength, but then again wounding Stein was perhaps just a ploy to bring in larger prey. Shinji didn't know what a scientist or doctor could make of all the blood and gore just yet, so the young man remained as reluctant as ever to say it was a monster- Blue and red blinkers at the edge of his vision woke him from the nightmare as the skies darkened above.

* * *

Though he unconsciously searched for Detective Katsuragi, the man was nowhere to be found in the growing crowd.

"Man, what goddamn mess. And you said this was a rabid dog?" The police officer closest to him asked while the EMT dressed his wounds.

"Hey Makoto, what do we got?" A female voice loudly proclaimed from off to the side, making the cop before him jump and adjust his glasses.

"Something a little different this time, Misa. Guy says he was attacked by a rabid dog."

Turning his head, he could see her come into view, a towering beauty of dark black hair, her face evoking dim memories of law enforcement.

"This isn't what I imagined when you said it was better than handing out parking tickets."

Built like a brick shithouse, her sizeable bust wasn't the only thing that threatened to tear her blue uniform at the seams.

"You alright there, kid? You didn't get bit, did you?" Eyes of his mother's brown bored into him as his drifted to her tag, "Katsuragi"

Shinji's eyes read the name tag, and they read it again, partially to help process the surprise and mostly because of where the name tag rested. A second later Shinji snapped out of his dumbstruck haze and met her brown eyes with his blue.

"Officer Katsuragi, nice to meet you" Shinji responded, red blood once more splashing across his face, but under his skin this time rather than over it. "I didn't get bit no, just some nicks and scrapes in the struggle-but it was a near thing"

There was only so long Shinji could maintain any "rabid dog" ruse, for one didn't need to be a Detective to see the plentiful oddities of the scene. A young man covered in blood with a spent flare and an axe at his side, bruises around his neck, and despite enough blood to paint the backside of the barn there was no sign of a dying or dead dog. That the officer in question looked like a sex bomb in uniform hardly helped things. If the woman but whispered Shinji imagined that he and many others would be ever so eager to divulge any and all answers and secrets, anything she wanted to hear. "It's, it's a bit more than that thought."

"At least we know your eyes are good, eh champ?" She nudged him, drawing a look from her bespectacled partner before she began the proper rundown. "The others tell me you're Shinji, but what I want to know is how a young buck like yourself got involved in all this." She leaned inward and inspected the whites of his eyes. "You're not on anything, are ya? Why don't you take it from the top for me?"

"Y-yeah" Shinji responded in an embarrassed but relaxing smile which drenched his face redder. All beauty and curves aside it was perhaps the woman's easy demeanor and charm which shone through the brightest and right away. Most people tended to react more favorably to comfort and kindness, good feelings than bad feelings, and Shinji was no different. "No, I'm not on drugs, but when I finish my story you're going to think that I am" Shinji swam in those pools of brown as he tried to consider how to word all of this. "It's all a bit bizarre."

The woman's strength was comforting, and it helped to remind him why he had come this far in the first place. Pride and respect were nice, but they weren't the reasons Shinji had gotten into this. Shinji had gone into this small adventure much as he had with the rest of his course in life: to help people. And even if they laughed at him or threw him in a padded room Shinji couldn't very well say nothing if it could help warn people and keep them safe.

"I'm a s-starving Private Detective, work has been wind and so I took a small job to help a family try and find their lost Corgi, Stein over there" Shinji smiled a bit easier as he nodded at the now happier looking dog. "Cased the neighborhood and finally tracked Stein down. But he wasn't alone. Stein had been wounded by some other Corgi that looked identical. The Corgi attacked and I stabbed it in the head"

Shinji took a deep breath before the plunge

"Then it stretched its tongue out longer than a frog's and pulled the knife out of its head, it's mouth splitting four ways into a nightmare". Shinji kept his tone and expression even and calm, keeping eye contact with those beautiful brown eyes to do everything he could to at least make it seem like he wasn't lying. "I thought I'd have a better chance with fire so I ran into the cafe, dropped off Stein, picked up some flares from an earthquake emergency kit and came back. Thing jumped me but it didn't look all like a Corgi anymore, it wrapped me up, tried to choke me so it could bite me. I took itss tongue with the axe and put a flare in itss eye and it ran off."

Shinji stopped and the stunned silence was immediate, so he continued.

"Look I don't know what the blood tests could maybe show but just look at this" Shinji unbutton his shirt a bit more to show off his bruised neck "Note the bruises, I didn't do this to myself, and there are no markings of rope or wire or anything else typical for such a thing, yeah? You have to believe me!"

* * *

The police station cell he sat in was grimy and uncomfortable, but mercifully empty. All the explaining he did seemed only to exacerbate the situation, and until the evidence could be processed he was being held on charges of disturbing the peace and animal cruelty. The final twist of the knife was watching Jin shake his head shamefully as he held a shocked Kana, Stein yipping nonchalantly at their feet. His mouth ran dry and his wrists chafed from the handcuffs that had been put around him, now against his forehead as he held his head in his hands.

"Alright, Goji. Looks like you got a friend today." A longer haired officer pushed in a scruffy man wearing a beanie and sweatpants into the cell with him looking around with wild eyes. "I heard he got fucked up and stabbed a fucking dog?"

"You killed a dog? What the fuck's wrong with you?"

"Yeah if I killed a dog where the fuck is the body?"

The response seethed past grit teeth and no amount of iron or brick could have held back the brimming rage which broiled off him. Under other circumstances, the plainly raised and goody-two-shoes Shinji might have been hysterical to find himself stuck in a prison cell with another criminal. Now however, going by the look in Shinji's hardened eyes, he could give a damn about the man beside him. Shinji had never felt much anger at the frustration and despondence of his pursuits, he knew his lot in life would be difficult, and he was self-aware enough to know why people would deride him, even if they were unfortunately close minded. Shinji could understand, skepticism was after all healthy in all things. But the sheer stupidity on display was astounding, and that Shinji could not tolerate. For once, finally, the odd combination of facts spoke for themselves, even without any forensic work. All one had to do was look at the facts and think-but perhaps Shinji was getting ahead of himself, making the foolish presumption that anyone in the Tokyo Police Department actually had brains.

"Fuck, how would I know? Crazy motherfucker like you probably ate the body too." Goji spat, having dealt his share of poison in life but still retaining a soft spot for his pitbull. "What the fuck were you on, bath salts?"

"He wasn't on anything." A familiar face strode next to the cell, a few years removed from the last time Shinji saw him but looking like he'd aged at least twice that. "You're free to go, Shinji." Daisuke Katsuragi assured him, sliding open the barred door. "There's been some... extenuating circumstances. Could you follow me, please?"

He showed the way to one of the interrogation rooms, Shinji's hands free of restraints this time. Shinji had oh so many juicy rebuttals with which to part from his newfound best friend but his rage soon traced and shifted to the flutter of another red flag, more worn and tattered than the last time he had seen it. "Free" or not, it did little to amend his chaffed wrists, the near death experience, the hunger lining his slimmed gut, the persisting ridicule and doubt which stung all the harder just shy of a first success. Really all Shinji wanted to do was depart, hands and middle fingers held high for the entire walk out. Oh, _now_ they wanted to talk. If they had problems, who the fuck cared?

"Then I'm going"

Shinji made it to the door opposite Daisuke before his fist tightened on the handle, the specter of appreciation for the man's past kindness holding him there.

"First of all, I'd like to apologize for my lateness. My colleagues were unwilling to take your story at face value, something the force at large agreed with until another incident occurred."

As he closed the door behind him, out came a manila folder with fresh pictures of some mutilated animal, formerly in the shape of a cat.

"This was found not far from the location of your encounter, the degree of trauma displayed unmatched by any animal we could think of roaming the streets. Understand that even with this I received pushback on pursuing it as a possible thread, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt given your -our- history with strange occurrences." He paused, wolf's eyes taking in the boy's reaction behind thin lenses. "In your line of study, do you know anything about this... creature?"

Shinji had been angry, but that was when he thought that at least the creature was wounded or dying, unable to hurt anyone or anything for some time, or for good. But now that Shinji knew that the Police's bungling was putting lives at risk he was livid. Daisuke heard the grinding of teeth before Shinji's fists beat down on to the table

"I ALMOST GOT MYSELF KILLED SO YOUR COPS WOULDN'T GET HURT! As far fetched as any story is, a good cop, a good Detective, works the facts! Your cops saw the bruises all along my body, bruises that failed to match any normal binding material. Bruises that fail to match any pattern of any attack or fight in a case. Your cops saw enough blood strewn about that they should of wondered what kind of fucking dog or any living thing could live through that, let alone vanish without a trace. And your cops had Billy's testimony that he found me barely able to move or breath shortly after the fight. I wouldn't have had the time of the strength to fabricate such evidence, much less hide any binding materials"

Shinji's balled fists began to shake.

"A good detective works the facts. But your cops ignored all of them, and now an innocent life is lost, and how many more will follow?". Shinji grit his teeth all the tighter lest a sob join the water filling his eyes. Some might have derided "Oh it's just a cat" but it was a life nonetheless, and the salt sunk deep into the wounds knowing that it was the old prejudices and bullies that had helped take it away. Clearing his throat and drying his eyes Shinji steeled himself just a bit, a smolder of great anger and hurt remaining

"But I'll help because I won't let innocents pay for the ineptitude of your men."

Daisuke could hardly get a word in edgewise until Shinji calmed down enough to start picking bits of scenery out of his teeth. The disrespect, the theatrics, he'd seen bipolar hookers hold themselves together better than this kid, near death situation included.

"Shinji, I will commend bravery wherever it arises, but what I won't praise is foolishness. By all accounts from inside the café, nobody could see anything chasing you, and only you chose to charge back out again half-cocked until they found you. Hell, you want to bring up Billy? He's the first one who said you should be committed. Understand that while you've had a very bad day, nothing you've done has been a good look for you. In fact, I'm the only person in your corner, because I don't want to see you get hurt."

All the while, his features softened a bit, the reverse battening of the hatches from a man who seemed used to unwarranted verbal abuse from strangers.

"I can only see what I can prove, everything else is my gut. But that tells me that you're telling the truth, or at least part of it. This is not three kids jerking off in a room anymore. You're a grown man Shinji and today, you put your life at risk for reasons I can't even begin to fathom. I know when one of my men goes down I feel it bad, I carry it with me every day, but you? You're all your mother has, and quite frankly I think you're an idiot for nearly throwing your life away."

The man sighed and ran his fingers through a sheaf of salt and pepper hair.

"I'm not here to debate you, I just want details. All off the record, no cameras, no wires, just man to man and no bullshit. What did you see?"

With his dander up Shinji was all to ready to snark and fight, even if he was playing ball, but this response threw him off. Shinji calmed down real quick, the man's concern and compassion making him feel a bit foolish-at least for lashing out at him. Daisuke might have not supported his course in life -and he could understand why- but he had always remained kind. Umbrage endured against the majority of cops who thought traces of a dog that could bleed buckets and strangle a person was normal. For now Shinji silenced his grumblings and nodded

"I'm sorry, Daisuke".

Shinji pulled the picture closer, frowning at the cat's mangled form.

"In all the reading I've done-which is quite conflicted on anything as you might imagine, dearth of proof and all-I've not seen story or heard folklore of anything much like this. Really the closest thing that comes to mind is some monster from sci-fi and horror movies". The young man's calm improved the more he talked about the strange things in the world. "This thing can shapeshift, it was a Corgi, and then it wasn't, it was all sinewy and nebulous, and it always had a long tongue, strong too for it's size. Hard to put down too. I rammed a silver butterfly knife into its brain and that only stunned it. But later on I got its tongue with the axe and stuck a flare in its eye, then part of it popped like a balloon. So I don't think it likes fire. Really the best way to take it down is eviscerate its entire body, because even heavily wounded it's apparently still keeping on."

The first part of the boy's explanation was easily ignored, the detective putting little stock in the mystic and apocryphal.

"So it's a carnivorous shapeshifter with a taste for animals and a fear of fire." Daisuke puzzled as he bit of inside of his cheek. "Yeah I've seen a movie or two like that. It's nothing substantial, but I'll keep an eye out for... this. There's only so many hands on the force, and between you and me I think it's better if you lay low for a while until this urban legend thing blows over. You've got a good head on your shoulders, and I'd hate to hear it in the same breath as Old Man Sho and his flying saucers. Now I'm gonna let you loose with a warning: whatever this thing was, whatever happened, you got lucky, and in a million years I wouldn't roll the dice a second time with it. Believe me, if I could protect everyone, I would, but I'm just one man, and I don't want to have to walk up to another alleyway to try and identify you in pictures, are we clear?"

The man tiredly removed his glasses from gray temples, imagining the rest of the red tape to wade through tonight.

"I heard you met my daughter earlier, she offered to give you a ride home so all of this yelling and bullshit stays in here, are we clear?"

"The laying low part should be easy" Shinji spoke in deadpan "As scary as this all was it was this was the first really interesting thing that's happened to me since I left the Academy".

Shinji didn't like leaving something like that out and about, but with no money or license to a flamethrower perhaps there was little to do. It was more of his freakish luck that Shinji had chanced upon such a thing in the first place and finding it the sprawl once more would be difficult. Shinji just had to hope the freshly given wounds kept it hobbled for a time. That next bit of news caught Shinji off guard but he could hardly challenge it as the ride would be much welcomed, his body poised to collapse on the spot.

"I promise. Your daughter seems interesting" Shinji might have blushed or flushed over those words if he weren't so tired "Is there any special reason you never mentioned that she was a cop?"

"You never asked." Daisuke shrugged. "In any case, I'm quite busy and I'm sure you two will want to talk about it amongst yourselves. Until next time, Shinji."

A firm handshake shook the boy's body in place, and the man departed. In the department's lobby, a bubbly Amazon stood waiting for him, without handcuffs this time.

"Heya Shinji, I'm really sorry about today! I promise you can ride in the front this time."

Another handshake, even more crushing than the last if a little apologetic.

"So I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Misato Katsuragi."

The young man stood farther and safer from a near death experience and yet he seemed at a glance colder and more reserved than the blushing and earnest youth she had first met in the alley. But the woman seemed to want to make amends, and she was Daisuke's daughter so Shinji would be nice.

"I think we did" Shinji's tone remained even "It's okay. I apologize as well for my mood, it's been a long day" Shinji returned the handshake as best his weaker and exhausted grip could. "Shinji Ikari, nice to meet you."

"You and me both, but I guess it beats sitting around handing out speeding tickets." She laughed, boundless mirth packed into a body painstakingly laid out by a classically trained architect of brick shithouses. "Oh yeah and I got a surprise for you in the back seat!"

On cue, Stein's happy face barked through the window, panting while Misato scratched behind his ears.

"The girl at the cafe handed him over saying he was yours? He looked kind of beat but we put a widdle spwint on it, yes we did!" She squealed in baby talk to the adorable ball of fluff, who couldn't have seemed more full of zest after such a harrowing day.

At seeing Stein's boundlessly innocent and energetic face safe and sound, Shinji's craggy exterior melted away.

"Stein!" Shinji picked Stein up and free of the car, hugging him tight. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Seeing Stein was great because it meant Shinji wasn't going to starve for at least another week, but more than that, it was nice to know that he had at least completed one task, saved one life. Shinji kissed the dog's forehead before gently setting him back down.

"So Stein's got a clean bill of health? No strange infections from his wounds or anything?"

"Not as far as we can tell, you might wanna take him to a vet to be sure though." Either way, Stein eagerly licked Shinji's face and paced hurriedly in the cruiser's back seat. Glad to see the boy in higher spirits, they all piled in as Misato backed out of the motor pool. "So, where am I dropping you guys off?"

"Thanks for taking time out of your day to drive a crazy person" Shinji managed a small smile as sat down beside her, struggling to remember the last time he'd been in a car besides today. "Would it be okay if we make two stops? This all started because I wanted to return this little guy to his family, and I'd like to put their worries to rest. If you only want to make one stop we could go there and I'd be happy to walk home from there."

"Nah, don't sweat it." She assured him, waving away his concerns. "I'm about to punch out anyway, I just felt bad for busting your balls earlier. But hey, no harm, no foul. I coulda sworn the chick from the cafe said he was yours though, are you some kinda pet detective?"

"She likely did, I wasn't really clear about whose Corgi it was. I would maybe joke about wishing that I was a Pet Detective but, after today's 'case' I think I'll take a break from them" Shinji chuckled his smile a little wider as he laid his head back against the seat "I'm a Freelance Detective, Private Investigator, whatever you would prefer to call me. Business has hardly been much of anything though these days."

"Yeah, I hear ya, the private sector can be killer, heh." She turned the corner onto Chihiro's street. "I've only been a cop for like six months anyway, so I can't really speak on it." Counting down the house numbers, she let out an "Ahah!" and parked. "This looks like the place. Aw, I'm gonna miss you too, Stein, ya big softie."

"I won't be long" Shinji nodded, young man and dog beaming as they approached the house.

 _Six months huh?_

Shinji knocked on the door, a little bit of pride and excitement sinking into his core along with much happiness. "It's Shinji Ikari, we talked earlier! I've got a surprise for you!"

The man's face at the door held as much shock as it did relief, Stein growling in apparent remembrance.

"Oh shit, it's the dog! Thanks, bro!" From behind, a familiar feminine voice came down the hallways.

"Babe, who is it- Oh my God, Stein!" This time the dog leapt fully from Shinji's arms into his owner's, barking in mad glee. "Ohh, thank you so much Shinji! You have no idea how much this means to me!" Chihiro sang, waltzing into the other room.

"You really don't." Her boyfriend added under his breath, pulling out his wallet. "I swear her and her mom were gonna go nuts over that thing. Anyway, how much do I owe you?"

Shinji would have said that the joyous looks on both Chihiro's and Stein's faces was payment enough, but he still needed to eat.

"Two hundred dollars, that's what the poster said"

Shinji smiled kindly, his breath holding for the moment of truth. Shinji's work had been worth a bit more than that today, fighting an abomination and all, but he doubted he could haggle much more out of them with his story.

"Thanks bro, 'preciate it." The man slipped him the crisp bills and closed the door, Chihiro's ecstatic laughter still audible on down to the steps.

"Hey, she was cute." Misato winked at him upon his return. "Didja get a little sum'n sum'n for bringing her baby back?"

Shinji blushed into his seat as the words and the wink hit him, his social life perhaps the only thing in a sorrier state than his career.

"Cute but taken. I did however get a nice sum'n, a cool 200 hundred dollars" Shinji's stomach celebrated the paper brought salvation with him. "It's not why I did what I did, I want to help people, but I have to get by too. And now that I actually have enough to get by for a time, I'd like to treat you to dinner. My apology for earlier and my thanks for the ride"

The plain earnest light returned to the young man's eyes and he hardly seemed to have ulterior motives beyond wanting to kindly return a favor.

"It's going to be a cheap dinner, though."

"Heh, wouldn't be the first time. You're 18, right? Lemme buy you a drink." If he was just getting on, she'd hate to tighten that belt any further.

"Here we are, my favorite date spot." They pulled up to a parking lot in between a liquor store and a chinese takeout place, both signs lettered in fading neon. "Shall we?"

"Let's." Shinji got of the car first and so he was already there, holding open to liquor store door as she got there. It was kind of funny protocol given the establishment and the general state of this one in particular, but it seemed someone had reared the young man with thorough manners-at least until his blood got up. Shinji followed after, soon losing himself in the sea of various liquors. For the veritably endless ways to get a buzz Shinji was just as ignorant of all of them as he had been years ago. "Any recommendations on liquor?"

"Well, nobody died so I'm not giving you anything hard." She thought out loud, walking down the aisles of whiskey, scotch, and vodka. "And you're not in a suit or going to mass so no wine. Aha!" Misato bent over and pulled out a bright yellow box with YEBISU on the side in serif font. "Can't go wrong with a few cold ones!"

Hefting it with one hand, the other rummaged around in her pocket before pulling out some wadded up bills for the cashier and laying them out on the counter. Much as the temptation persisted about becoming the broken drunkard Shinji had shied away in his recent downtrodden times. Even now there was no inclination for the taste, but Shinji did hope to be social, for that was one thing he had long missed. It was only a few breathes over to a table at the Chinese Restaurant next door, not a single eye batting at the beer they put on the table. No doubt each establishment benefited from the proximity of the other.

 _Teamwork in food or drink, is there anything better?_

"It's a nice place" Shinji said as he gave the place a once over with his eyes.

"Yeah, what do you want? General Tso's?" As they took their orders and waited Shinji saw her hands play out their temptation along the rim of one of the cans. "Anyway I found your knife in the alley when they were dusting for prints. That sucker was really in there! I had to pull it out myself but it's in evidence now so I don't think you'll get it back for a while. But hey, a guy like you must be glad to just get out alive."

"Well since you've freed it from stone I think it entitles you to a small part of Britain, but I don't know it can be a dodgy way to run a goverment" Shinji chuckled as reached for a can himself, opening it and grimacing down a quick sip. "I can wait though, thank you. It's silver so I'd like to get it back one day"

 _A good excuse to meet again_

Another grimace and another sip, but longer.

"Yeah so much went on it's hard to process in the moment. Now that I can actually breathe though, it does help me appreciate my luck."

"Mhmm, those bruises on your neck might be pretty 'yikes' right now but give it like a week and you can just tell people you got some hickies." The woman laughed, wolfing down her bowl of food. "I used to like getting choked in bed, sometimes I'd get a little too into it haha."

As the only customers on this humid night, the dog days of summer lazed well into September.

"Silver, eh? Was it a family heirloom or something?"

"Ha, you don't say" The heat in Shinji's cheeks soon surpassing that of his soup.

 _For as much as she can get people to talk she doesn't hold back on info herself, does she?_

"So you're a real breath taking woman in more ways than one huh?". Shinji reached for the glass of ice water instead of the beer, doing his best to cast back the humid heat of the place and that along his cheeks. "Yeah, it was a gift."

"Fuck yeah I am." Her fingers became antsy, and curious eyes tried to delve deeper into the boy. "So what's your story? I was kinda surprised to hear you knew my Dad personally like that." She finished the foos with a pat of her stomach and went on to unwrap a fortune cookie. "Did he teach one of your DARE classes?"

"Yeah I was surprised to find out he had a daughter in the force too" Shinji's fingers were as cool and calm as the glass of water they wrapped around, his own curiosity about the Katsuragi's relationships burgeoning. "Just before my last year of high school I met you dad, during other... unique circumstances. Nothing too bad though. I expressed interest in the field and he was so kind as to keep in touch. He did guest lecture at the Academy a few times and I attended everyone. He's a good man."

"So he busted ya. I figured that's what it was. He catch you smoking pot with your buddies? Ah it's okay, I've been there and believe me it's worse when he's your father. I love him to death, he's the whole reason I'm wearing this badge." Noting that he'd finished his food as well, she scooped the plates into a garbage can and let the rest of the beer cans dangle from her hand on her way out the door.

"So, your place or mine?"

"Huh?"

Shinji blinked in modest surprise, not sure if had misheard her, or was imagining things. A whisper of possibility sped his heart just a bit, his mind racing to wonder: what _did_ she mean by that? Not wanting to look like a fool and misjudge whatever this maybe was Shinji just went with it.

"Well, my place is just a bit bigger than this table so yours might be best" Shinji smiled leaving a generous tip on the table for his fellow struggling sorts.

"Ha, really had you goin' there for a sec. I'm not _that_ kinda escort, Shinji, especially not for this pay." Misato chuckled, revving out of the driveway. "But I feel your pain, the last place I lived in was a shithole too. Now I just hope I could get one of those police vans or trucks, really stretch my legs out, ya know? You're cute, it's just I learned it's a bad idea to mix work and sex, that and the whole cradle robbing thing on my conscience."

"Oh but we don't work together do we?" Shinji chuckled, only a little disparaged because he could have hardly begun to imagine someone like Misato actually being interested in him in the first place. It wasn't so much the loss of sex which stung but the implication that came with it _Still too young, naive, just a kid_ . "Getting a guy's hopes up like that and then jumping on them from the ropes, I could bring you up on charges of police brutality."

"Hey-oh! Aw, I didn't mean it like that, it'd just be weird is all." Soon enough, they rolled on in front of Shinji's home, a lukewarm mattress awaiting him. "But you seem like a decent guy, just seems like you could loosen up a little." She handed him another beer and put the rest on the seat beside her. "Bye Shinji!"

"Well, it's a good thing I deal in weird then"

Shinji might have tipped his hat if he had one but instead he just gave a parting smile and a wave

"Have a good night Misato".

As the woman drove off Shinji heard the din of the city, both a sign of just how prevalent mankind's presence was, and yet a mocking reminder of how lonely one could be when so close to so many others. Shinji heaved a sigh as he returned to his small room, the fatigue weighing him down quick. Another bout of depression might of struck him then if not for the progress that had been made that day. He put his fresh reward down on the table, new pastures a little greener for it, and his cellphone beside that. Tomorrow he would call back and make sure the family took Stein to the vet, made sure they were vigilant for odd behavior, then he would call Kensuke too, apologize for vanishing. Shinji hit the lights and dropped to the floor with the bit of futon over it and forgoed a sheet in the lingering humid heat.

 _I don't know quite who I am, but oh man I am tryin'_

 _I'll make mistakes until I get it right_

 _An eye for an eye for eye for an eye for an eye_

 _I used to hate myself, but now I think I'm alright_

(AN: The raw materials for this series have been sitting in archived emails and chat logs for at least a year and a half. The whole thing was part of a RP I had going with a good friend of mine, Stranger 1, after we completed our massive Superhero Eva crossover AU. It took me a while to pare down some of the more awkward exchanges and redundancies, and frequent asides of shitposting, but I've plowed through it and hopefully come out the other side with something legible and coherent. Feel free to point out any errors in editing or possible improvements made, but I hope you enjoyed it, slow burner as it was. Crossover elements will come up in later chapters, mostly in the form of characters borrowed from other anime, but I don't want to spoil that yet.)

The song is: Courtney Barnett - Small Poppies


End file.
